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Nomura Holdings said its net profit jumped 86% on year in the January-March period largely thanks to a strong performance at its trading business and investment trust sales.

But the overseas operations of Japan's largest securities firm remained in the red for the three-month period amid continued uncertainty over the European sovereign debt crisis.

Japan's largest securities firm by revenue posted a net profit of ¥22.08bn ($273m) for the fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a net profit of ¥11.90bn in the same period a year earlier.

The figure was much better than a consensus forecast for a ¥14.77bn net profit based on a survey of three analysts by Thomson Reuters. In the previous quarter ended Dec. 31, Nomura posted a ¥17.82bn net profit largely due to a one-time gain on the sale of the company's stake in Japanese restaurant chain Skylark Co.

The results showed strong gains at Nomura's trading business, which racked up pretax profits of ¥20.2bn in the quarter, up 75% from the same period a year earlier.

The broker's overseas operations posted a pretax loss of ¥24.55bn during the quarter, compared with a loss of ¥19.37bn in the previous quarter and ¥9.73bn a year earlier.

Nomura's businesses in Europe were hit as markets remained highly volatile due to the situation in Europe. Its businesses in the Asia Pacific region also swung into losses of ¥2.65bn. Losses at its European businesses came to ¥23.28bn, while the US region posted profits.

"We'll continue to deal with risk management in Europe," Junko Nakagawa, Nomura's chief financial officer said at a press conference, adding that the company will maintain a cautious trading position.

She also said the company's $1.2bn cost cutting plan will likely start to take effect in the region in the current fiscal year. About 81% of the wholesale division's cost-cutting program had been carried out as of March 31, she said.

While enjoying a solid gain in its fixed and equity income businesses thanks to the stock market's recovery, Nomura posted losses of ¥7.6bn in its investment banking business.

Nomura's revenue in the fourth quarter surged 67% to ¥498.97bn from ¥299.38bn a year earlier.

For the fiscal year ended March, Nomura said its net profit came to ¥11.58bn, down 60% from a net profit of ¥28.66bn a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Daiwa Securities swung into the black in the January-March period, its first profit in five quarters, due to strength in its retail business helped by an improvement in the domestic stock market. A one-time gain from turning Daiwa Office Investment into a subsidiary also boosted its profits. It posted a net profit of ¥10.92bn for the three-month period, compared with a net loss of ¥33.13bn yen a year earlier. It made a net loss of ¥21.57bn yen in the October-December quarter.

Japan's second biggest broker also enjoyed its first profit in Europe and the US for nearly two years thanks to the effects of cost cutting.

The two brokerage don't disclose earnings forecasts. Nomura's financial results are based on US accounting standards, while Daiwa bases its financial results on Japanese accounting standards.